schoolbooks Library CD for Classroom Tests

(Caroline, a grade-school teacher, writes of a good teaching experience:)

I teach a lively class of primary pupils (5th class, in Dublin). They very quickly learned how to use this programme called Schoolbooks and now look forward to using it during our weekly computer class.

After just one introductory lesson on how to find books in the Infobase, how to set bookmarks and highlights in the text, and how to use the various search functions, they were ready for a competition, based on some items in the Schoolbooks CD.

The class enjoys solving puzzles and doing "find-out" competitions. I set them twenty questions to answer, all based on material they could find in Schoolbooks.

The class (11 girls and 12 boys) divided into four groups, each group with its own computer (all installed with the programme). There was a prize for the group with the most correct answers at the end of 40 minutes. (It held their full attention!)

Twenty Questions. Answer as Many as Possible within the hour:

All answers should be either by way of highlighting in the text, or personal sticky-notes attached to the text.

Place Bookmarks at the start of these five books: Treasure Island, Grimm's Fairy Tales, Black Beauty, The Call of the Wild and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

Save these five new bookmarks in your file, for future reference. Each time you answer a question, save the file (Ctrl_S) so the answer is kept.

In Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson, find and highlight all the references to Ben Gunn
Find out who said "Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight!" Where did he say it, and highlight his name.
Add a personal note ("Sticky Note") to the first mention of the Blind Man in Treasure Island, saying what he did with his threatening Black Spot?
Highlight and Bookmark the line "Fifteen men on the dead man's chest - Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!"
What country did Robert Louis Stevenson come from? Why did he go to the South Pacific? (Highlight the answers, in the Introduction to Stevenson.)
What were the first names of the Grimm brothers? What was their native country ?
In "Rumpelstiltskin," from Grimm's Fairy Stories, who teaches the girl to spin straw into gold?
In Grimm's "The Fox And The Cat" what were the Cat's first ideas about the Fox?
In the story "Aschputtel" (or Cinderella), what was the importance of the Golden Slipper?
In Anna Sewell's book Black Beauty, what advice does the colt's mother give him, in chapter one?
How tall were the two horses, Ginger and Black Beauty (ch. 10)?
Who wrote the book, The Call of the Wild, and name two more of his books
In The Call of the Wild, why was Buck (the dog) brought up to Alaska? (ch. 1)
How long did it take for Buck to earn sixteen hundred dollars for his master (Thornton), and how did the man use it (chapter 7)? Highlight the answer.
What was the real name of Lewis Carroll, the author of Alice in Wonderland?
For whom did Lewis Carroll compose the story, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland?
In Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, who said that The March Hare was as mad as a hatter? What shape were the chimneys of the March Hare's house (highlight)?
Where was The Mad Tea-Party held, and who were invited to it?
"Curiouser and curiouser!" - why did Alice say that (ch. 2)?
Why did the Rabbit say, "Oh my dear paws! Oh my fur and whiskers!"

The groups scored very well in the test and the prize was a copy of the CD itself.

When I asked the class afterwards if they would like to read more from these books, their answer was… "Yes, please!"